Men's Tewaaraton Tracker: Fifteen to Follow

LEADER IN THE CLUBHOUSE

Steele Stanwick, Virginia
Until someone unseats Stanwick, he's still the favorite. In an
eight-minute span of the fourth quarter Saturday, Stanwick assisted
back-to-back goals and then scored one of his own. He has an
uncanny ability to make clutch plays in close games. As colleague
Corey McLaughlin wrote in today's installment of "Working Off The
Weekend" ... "I just can't get away from this: The more I watch
Steele Stanwick the more it is reinforced that he's one of the best
attackmen to ever play the game. I don't think we can say this
enough. His passes have such pinpoint accuracy and his field sense
is second-to-none."

WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE

Will Manny, Massachusetts
The Minutemen were off this weekend, so Manny didn't have a chance
to stuff the stat sheet like he has all year: 21 goals (on 36
shots!) and 12 assists in seven games. UMass looks primed for a
deep playoff run, and Manny has been leading the charge all
year.

Mike Sawyer, Loyola
Loyola is off to its first 8-0 start since 1999 thanks to Sawyer
and lefty running mate Eric Lusby. Sawyer scored four straight
goals as part of a 10-1 run by the Greyhounds in Saturday's 13-5
win over cross-town rival UMBC. Sawyer has buried 29 goals and
dished out seven assists already.

Tucker Durkin, Johns Hopkins
Durkin has drawn opponents' top playmaker each week and largely
held each one in check — Syracuse's Tim Desko scored one goal
on four shots, Princeton's Tom Schreiber scored one goal on five
shots and Stanwick scored a pair on nine shots. Granted, Hopkins
has played very sound team defense, but Durkin is a big reason why.
He studies film to understand tendencies as well as any player in
the country.

Mark Matthews, Denver
Matthews didn't have a particularly loud day — one goal, one
assist — in Denver's 11-8 defeat of Air Force on Saturday,
but he leads one of the nation's most efficient and prolific
offenses, having scored 21 goals and 11 assists. Plus, the name
recognition and ridiculous goals help.

ALSO IN THE HUNT

Peter Baum, Colgate
The nation's leading scorer tallied three goals in Colgate's 12-11
loss to Navy on Saturday. Baum has recorded an incredulous 49
points (36 goals, 13 assists) through nine games, and he has the
Raiders in the race for an NCAA tournament berth.

John Kemp, Notre Dame
The brick wall at the heart of Notre Dame's dominant defense, Kemp
is allowing just 5.8 goals per game with a .656 save percentage. He
stopped 17 shots in the Fighting Irish's 8-7 defeat of Ohio State,
then made seven stops in the Big East opener against Rutgers.

Niko Amato, Maryland
The Terrapins don't have one go-to, feature offensive playmaker,
and they instead rely on a host of versatile weapons. Amato might
be Maryland's flashiest player, routinely making big saves in big
situations. He made 10 saves in the Terps' 11-10 loss to North
Carolina on Saturday. The Terps will go as deep as Amato takes
them.

Zach Palmer, Johns Hopkins
Palmer went for 1 and 1 against Virginia on Saturday, and he leads
the Blue Jays with 28 points on the season. The Hopkins offense was
forced to adjust without Boland. Palmer has been the glue.

Colin Briggs, Virginia
Briggs' stats — 13 goals, 11 assists — don't scream
"Player of the Year," but his impact isn't understood in the box
score. He does a little bit of everything for the Cavaliers,
including scoring the game-winner against Cornell in the Face-Off
Classic.